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PWU Capitol Punishment 2017 (RLS Universe PPV)
PWU Capitol Punishment 2017 was a UNION Wrestling Live Event that took place at the Verizon Center in the US capitol of Washington, DC., on the 13th February 2017. It was the follow-up event to Hardcore Brawl 2016 and was followed by PWU Money In The Bank 2017. Background: # Scottish performer Charis was in America working for FWWC when called for a tryout match at the event. This wasn't publicised at all by the promotion and was a surprise for those in attendance. # Tyrone Riske and Grayson Gage won in the Semi-Finals of the Brawl Championship Tourney to crowd the first champion, with a Ladder Match confirmed to decide it at PWU Capitol Punishment. # Women's World Champion Birdy's feud with Miss Deeds merged with the feud with Nancy Warren and Sitara, who had differing reasons to believe a title opportunity was due following their double count-out match, leading to a Four Woman Dance. # Broderick's continued push as a monster heel made handicap matches the logical next step, and having already defeated HDMC, was given The United Kingdom to brutalise. The UK themselves also being heel was important in pushing the loner agenda of the star. # The Dudley Boyz demanded "one more chance" to win the Tag Team Titles, and were eventually given the opportunity here due to impressive wins in run-up shows. # Brittany Guile and Anna Roth/Abby Morgan's issues had played out on previous shows, seeing Roth given the chance to embarrass the popular new girl in Washington. # Ravi Rafik was dragged into the Inter Championship feud with his predecessor as Ace's protégé by Wroe, and managed to wrangle himself a title opportunity out of it by inserting himself into the match, making it a Three Man Dance. # Virgil Baker invoked his rematch clause early on after defeat at Hardcore Brawl. Card: *Charis was later signed to UNION Wrestling and given the scheduled debut name of "Zara". **To The Finish, unlike First To A Finish, involves elimination rules. Aftermath: # Charis was given another tryout in the Attendance Only show to end their travels in the US, and given a contract with the promotion a few weeks later. She is expected to debut after the rebrand as "Zara". # Tyrone Riske's triumph over long-time rival Grayson Gage would lead to Gage taking a short leave of absence from the company, while Riske would move on to several smaller feuds in order to give some legitimacy to the title through retention. # Birdy's feud with Miss Deeds ended here, and Sitara and Nancy Warren wouldn't remain in the title picture. Birdy would move on to a program with Lara Grey. # Broderick would move on to feud with Ryan Burton for the World Championship following the completion of his series of squash matches with the win here. # The Dudley Boyz would extend their stay in the promotion following their title win here, adding a little rub of prestige to the titles in the same way The Rock did previously. # Brittany Guile's feud with Abby Morgan and Anna Roth would evolve post-Capitol Punishment with the debut of former Manx Pro Wrestling star Amy J in the shows following the event. # Though both would drop out of the Inter Championship picture, Wroe and Rafik would continue to feud following the event, albeit with an interruption following the rebrand announcement. Ace would move on to feud with Sinyster. # Virgil Baker suffered a serious hand injury prior to the event, but didn't think the pain was that serious and ignored it, leading to him entirely tearing the tendon in his left hand and leaving him on the shelf until PWU Money In The Bank three months later. Burton, on the other hand, would defend the title several times during the short hiatuses of shows and eventually face Broderick at PWU MITB. Trivia: * Despite commentators regularly lauding the "20,000 PWU fans in attendance", this was actually a slight exaggeration as only 19,200-odd made the journey. This was double the anticipated audience, however, and the show was a commercial success beyond all expectations. * There was some concern going into the event, with the recent presidential change and also financial misgivings, about holding it in Washington. This lead to rumours that the event would be moved to a European capitol instead. This was confirmed as something discussed by the Directors by Eddie Hamer in the days prior to the event, but in the end the show went ahead. Ravi Rafik did admit he was worried by the potential for "anti-Muslim" sentiment with him being in a high-profile match, but he did confirm that it never happened and that he enjoyed his stay immensely. * Funnily enough, one of the places put forward as an alternative was Berlin, Germany, which is confirmed to be the place holding a similar event (under a new, original name) for the next Live Event Cycle. PWU Capitol Punishment (RLS Universe PPV)